150 
November 5, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Flower-Growing in England.—According to Mr. 
William E. Bear, in the Journal of the Royal 
Agricultural Society, the growing of flowers for 
market is greatly on the increase in this country, and 
that competition amongst home growers is becoming 
keener every year. Foreign supplies of flowers have 
also increased but not nearly to the same extent as 
the home product. The latter is therefore gaining 
ground, and likely to hold it except in the case of 
flowers, particularly early ones, for which the 
climatic conditions on the Continent are much more 
favourable. In face of this increase in home pro¬ 
duction, the fact is observable that prices have 
fallen generally, as in the case of other commodities. 
Production under glass, however, has been 
cheapened ; so that growers may still be able to 
make a profit ; and so long as this can be done, the 
cheapening of flowers would not imply over produc¬ 
tion. If the price were raised, the demand would 
fall off. 
Jubilee of the Horticultural State School of Vilvorde. 
—The jubilee fetes of the school of horticulture and 
agricultuure at Vilvorde, a little to the north-east of 
Brussels, took place on the i8th September last. The 
staff of professors and the administrative commission 
of the school were in waiting at six a.m. to receive the 
minister of agriculture, whom they solemnly con¬ 
ducted to the place of their establishment. The 
route was adorned with Conifers, banners and gar¬ 
lands. The gateway and the facade of the school 
were draped with banners of the national colours, 
and of those of Vilvorde. The gathering was 
attended by a large concourse of old students, pro¬ 
fessors, and various eminent men waiting upon the 
the minister. The Ghent School of Horticulture, 
which will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its 
existence next year, was represented by M. Wille- 
quet, the president of the commission of superinten¬ 
dence, and by MM. Burvenich and Pynaert, two 
of the oldest professors of the school. 
The Hart’s-tongue Fern in America.—Most of the 
British Ferns, it would seem, are found in North 
America, a fact which would indicate a common 
origin, and a birthplace in northern regions, say for 
instance, in Greenland. In Britain the Hart’s-tongue 
is one of the most widely distributed of our native 
Ferns; while in the United States on the contrary 
it is a very rare species. As recorded in the Fern 
Bulletin, of Binghamton, New York, an expedition 
was planned to visit the Perryville Falls, Madison 
county, New York, in quest of the Rue Spleenwort 
and the Purple Cliff-brake, when a new station for 
the Hart’s-tongue was unexpectedly discovered by 
one of two lady collectors. Something between 20 
and 30 plants were found within a radius of as many 
feet in a partial opening among the Basswoods, 
Maples and Beeches, on a steep slope, covered with 
fragments of limestone. Unfortunately the discovery 
was made public, and in less than three months after 
the find, the plant vandal was on the track of the 
Hart's-tongue with the sole idea of uprooting the 
specimems wholesale, as is the custom with hoc genus 
omne. The new station for this Fern was only dis¬ 
covered in July last, so that the Fern Bulletin records 
the discovery and destruction of the find in the same 
number, namely, that for the autumn quarter. 
-~— — — 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
Roses at Cannes. 
List of Roses now in cultivation at Chateau 
Eleonore, Cannes, with descriptive notes. 
London : John & E. Bumpus, Ltd., 1898. 
Many of our readers have heard occasionally of the 
fame of the Roses at Cannes and other places on the 
Mediterranean littoral. The present book has been 
written by Lord Brougham and Vaux, and consists 
of a descriptive list of the Roses grown at his resi¬ 
dence, Chateau Eleonore, Cannes, together with a few 
pages of introductory remarks. The book is printed 
on thick paper with broad margins, and is dedicated 
by permission to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. The 
author says the descriptions may be rejected by 
some as beiDg too highly coloured ; but he rightly 
calls attention to the difference in climate between 
that of Cannes and this country. The Roses at 
Cannes also rejoice in a depth of soil unknown in 
England, which he says has a telling effect upon 
colour, form and size. If such is the case our home 
growers will have to see to their laurels. This 
splendid development must surely take place in the 
late winter and early spring months, for the sun¬ 
shine at Cannes in the summer time must inevitably 
limit the size of the flowers and their duration, as it 
often does here in July. 
Many of the Tea Roses are so strengthened and 
beautified by the sunshine and the diet they get that 
their kinsfolk at home would scarcely recognise them. 
Many Roses, says the author, have to struggle for 
mere existence under the gray skies of England, but 
that we imagine would be due to latitude and a low 
temperature in winter. He describes Marie Van 
Houtte as attaining a circumference of 70 ft. in seven 
or eight years; and Papa Gontier, grown in cylindri¬ 
cal form, is 7 ft. in diameter and nearly 25 ft. high. 
Those are certainly dimensions that growers in this 
country could hardly dream of excelling in the open 
air at least. A full page illustration of Marie Van 
Houtte presents a huge bush of prepossessing appear¬ 
ance, being thickly furnished with Roses of large size 
as delineated by the camera. The double yellow 
Banksian Rose covering an Olive tree must indeed 
be a remarkable sight, judging from its great height 
and development laterally. Interesting also is Rosa 
glgantea, which was recently introduced from Upper 
Burmah, at an altitude of 4,000 ft. to 5,000 ft., and 
which the author says had never bloomed in Europe 
till it flowered in his garden at Cannes in April last. 
It makes growths 40 ft in length or more, and bears 
solitary flowers 6 in. in diameter, of a golden-white 
with a yellow centre. Unless the flowers are shaded, 
however, the sun takes the colour out of them, leaving 
the petals of a dirty white. There is other evidence 
that too much sunshine prevails at Cannes to suit the 
complexion of many Roses, a fact which we more 
than suspected. There is a photographic represen¬ 
tation of a portion of this gigantic single Rose, which 
we are afraid will be not very serviceable for outdoor 
culture in Britain. 
The Tea Rose Lady Zoe Brougham does better 
at Wimbledon, Surrey, than at Cannes, where the 
sun is all too powerful for it. The author also gives 
a woeful description of the behaviour of L Ideal, 
a Noisette which never prospers at Cannes, being 
always full of dead wood, and the leaves constantly 
falling. It is a prey to insect pests. We have some 
compensation for our cloudy skies. Those who wish 
to read the histories of Roses at Cannes will, how¬ 
ever, find many interesting hints by going direct to 
the book itself. 
The Story of the Farm, and other Essays. By 
James Long. London ; The Rural World Pub¬ 
lishing Company, no, Strand. Manchester: 
John Heywood. Price, is. 
This little book of 158 pages, is in paper covers and 
gives information on a considerable variety of topics 
relating to farm work and farm life. There is no 
index, but the contents give an idea of the scope and 
range of the book. Some of the chapters are the 
story of the farm, the land, and its owners, the 
farmer's position, the labourer and his hire, tenant 
right, peasant landowners, what a small occupier can 
do with land, the farming of the future, glass culti¬ 
vation, poultry production, woman in relation to 
rural industries, can the British Empire feed its 
people ? &c. 
In the chapter on the farming of the future the 
author draws a picture of the progress in the 
Colonies and the United States in the matter of im¬ 
proved machinery, by which they are able to manage 
the land more economically than in this country, 
where we change our methods of procedure all too 
slowly to be in keeping with the rapid progress and 
the changes of the times. Smaller farms and higher 
farming are put forward as hints about the farming 
of the future. The author means intense culture, 
a phase of cultivation frequently advocated in 
our pages. A small area of land, well cultivated, 
produces a far higher average per acre than a large 
farm badly stocked and tilled. The gardener, by 
spade culture and intense cropping, has often de¬ 
monstrated this fact. Years ago, writes Mr. Long, 
the buyers of glass-grown productions were chiefly 
found amongst the wealthy, but since new aspirants 
entered the ranks as producers, prices fell, and the 
constituency of consumers was thereby greatly 
increased. What the growers lost in price they 
more than gained in greatly increased sales of pro¬ 
duce. The author goes further, and thinks that it 
may be possible to cultivate the Banana and Mango 
with the same success as the Grape and Fig; and 
there is no palpable reason why the finest sorts of 
Plums and Gooseberries may not be forced and put 
on the market with the same facility as French 
Beans, Peas and Potatos. The writer is certainly 
sanguine, but we fear these things will hardly take 
place just yet, until the means of production and 
the cost of forcing in hothouses have been greatly 
cheapened by discoveries yet to be made. We 
accept the the hints and suggestions, however, as 
beiDg given in good faith as an inducement to try these 
things. Discoveries may yet be made in the near 
future that will put matters on an entirely different 
footing from what they are at present. Unemployed 
and for the unemployed should be a plum for those 
who really will work when they get the chance, and 
there are often many of them. 
The chapter on women and the future of agricul¬ 
ture, written by the Countess of Warwick, should be 
interesting to the more intelligent of the female farm 
hands, but presumably more so to lady gardeners, 
who, having put their hand to the garden plough, 
are determined to be their own bread-winners. The 
Countess of Warwick puts forward three pleas for 
the cause of women on the farm. She thinks it 
would open a new and healthy field of work for 
those who are described as the daughters of profes¬ 
sional men. The other two pleas are to check the 
depopulation of our villages, and to keep in this 
country some of the money which goes for foreign 
dairy, poultry, fruit and horticultural produce. 
Small as the book appears it contains a vast amount 
of information which is well worthy of the serious 
consideration of all who are concerned in the culti¬ 
vation of the soil, and in making a living by it. 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The undermentioned Chrysanthemums received 
First-class Certificates from the Floral Committee of 
the National Chrysanthemum Society, at a meeting 
held at the Royal Aquarium on the 24th ult. 
Mrs. Wingfield.— This is a decorative variety of 
considerable merit. The flowers are of good size, 
rich lilac in colour, and have rather stiff florets of 
medium length. The height of the plant is about 
3 ft., and the habit is sturdy and short-jointed. 
Mr. W. J. Empson, Ampthill House Gardens, 
Ampthill. 
Miss Ada Owen.— Here we have a good instance 
of the type of large incurves that has become so 
popular of late years. The flower, which is pure white, 
is of immense size, and nearly globular in shape. 
The florets are smooth and massive. Mr. R. Owen, 
Castle Hill, Maidenhead. 
Lady Phillips. —This is a huge Japanese flower 
with very wide and massive florets that intertwist to 
build up a grand flower. The colour is rosy-cerise 
with a light rose reverse. Mr. R. Owen. 
Mrs. George Hill.— This is an exceedingly 
pretty decorative variety, which is both distinct and 
elegant iD appearance by reason of its long, narrow, 
drooping florets. The blooms are of medium size 
when no disbudding is practised, but by dint of a 
little thinning of the buds they can be had of good 
size. The colour is creamy-white with a yellow flush 
in the centre. The plant is dwarf and sturdy in 
habit. Mr. H. J. Jones, Ryecroft Nursery, Lewis¬ 
ham, S.E. 
President Bevan.— In this we have a rather flat 
flower, but one that is quite distinct in build from 
anything else. The florets, which are rather above 
medium width, reflex for a great part of their length, 
but curve inwards at the tips. The colour is rich 
yellow, streaked heavily, and suffused with chestnut- 
red. The reverse exhibits lighter shades of the 
same colours. Mr. W. Wells, Earlswood Nurseries, 
Redhill, Surrey. 
Market White. —This is undoubtedly one of the 
best white decorative varieties in existence. The 
habit is dwarf and free. Mr. W. Wells. 
Jules Mary. —For description of this decorative 
variety see p. 119. Mr. W. Wells. 
Mrs. W. Cureham. — This is a very large Japanese 
bloom with exceptionally wide and massive florets. 
The colour is rich blush-pink. Mr. H. Weeks, The 
Gardens, Thrumpion Hall, Derby. 
Major Matthew. — This is a medium-sized 
incurved form, deep rose in colour, and lighter rose 
on the reverse. It will make a shapely front row 
flower. Mr. W. J. Godfrey, Exmouth, Devon. 
